Fiona Phillips is to film a special ITV documentary following her Alzheimer's diagnosis.
Fiona Phillips is to film a special ITV documentary following her Alzheimer's diagnosis
The 62-year-old broadcaster revealed earlier this month that she was diagnosed with the disease last year after being stricken with months of brain fog, anxiety and forgetfulness, and the star has now told how she will start to shoot a film about dealing with the realities of Alzheimer's later this year.
Fiona - whose parents both died due to the degenerative disease - told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "I want to go out and I want to work. I’ve just got to get on with it.
"I mean, what’s the alternative, to lie down and give up?"
The documentary will also feature Fiona taking part in a groundbreaking drug trial.
Fiona first revealed she was suffering from Alzheimer's earlier this month, and admitted it was "heartbreaking".
She told the publication: "This disease has ravaged my family and now it has come for me.
"And all over the country there are people of all different ages whose lives are being affected by it – it’s heartbreaking.
"I just hope I can help find a cure which might make things better for others in the future."
Fiona's mum Amy was first impacted by the disease in her 50s and passed away in 2006 aged 74, and her dad Neville started to suffer with dementia in his 60s, and he died in 2012.
The former GMTV presenter's husband, ITV executive husband Martin Frizell, 64, told recently how she isn't as "vibrant and interested in things" as she used to be following her diagnosis.
He said: "My only frustration is just I want her to get better,’ he says. ‘I want her to remember things. I want the apathy to go and I want this person back who was vibrant and interested in things and eager to do new things. But she’s not there at the moment."
She replied: "Really? I hadn’t noticed I was being like that."
He added: "But you wouldn’t, because you are in the middle of it."
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